The Israelis took to the streets on Sunday to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin’s plan Netanyahu to conquer the rest of the Gaza Strip instead of trying to negotiate an end to war under which he would free his last hostages.
While Netanyahu suggested that The calls to end the embedded war would Police faced the protesters who blocked roads, He made at least 30 arrests and used a water cannon against the participants in a sitting of protest in a tunnel of access to Jerusalem.
Almost two years after the start of an offensive that pushed Israel towards global isolation and left much of the Palestinian in ruins, The Netanyahu government gave the army green to conquer the de facto capital, the city of Gaza, and crush the remnants of Hamas.
Although tanks and troops have not yet begun to deploy, some members of the Netanyahu security cabinet have complained that the planned scale of the operation is insufficient. At the same time, their envoys seem willing to resume mediated conversations about a truce and the release of hostages if it softens their conditions. So far, there are no indications that the faction backed by Iran will do it.
The unwavering national support for war, initiated in response to the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, has disappeared. Surveys show that most Israelis want an agreement to repatriate 50 hostages, even if Hamas remains remain intact. The 20 hostages that are believed to be alive are at risk of being executed or being trapped in the crossfire.
In scenes that remembered the anti -government manifestations that preceded war, groups organized through social networks They flooded several road intersections on Sunday, the first day of the work week in Israel. Many waves Israeli flags and hostage photographs.
Netanyahu has promised victory against Hamas. His schedule to achieve this has been flexible, and has not given details about who could govern the shattered strip of Gaza, where the Ministry of Health, directed by Hamas – which does not distinguish between low combatants and civilians – affirms that 61,000 Palestinians have died.
“Those who today ask for the end of the war without a defeat of Hamas are not only hardening the position of Hamas and making the liberation of our hostages less likely.”Netanyahu declared Sunday. “They are also guaranteeing that the horrors of October 7 are repeated again and again, that our sons and daughters have to fight again and again in an eternal war.”
Although Israel’s main labor federation refused to join Sunday’s strike, protesters found support in the private sector. The local Apple and Microsoft operations joined, as did the web platform developer wix.com, which is quoted in the New York Stock Exchange, and the online market Fiverr, as well as Cumra Capital and Pitango Ltd. The companies allowed workers to take the day off to attend the demonstrations.
“We are in a crucial moment for the Israeli nation and we will not stay with crossed arms,” the high -tech forum said in a statement, a coalition formed in 2023 to protest against the judicial reform proposed by the Government. “This is a time when all Jews and Israelis must show their support for families (of the hostages) and demand the end of war and the return of all hostages.”
Eli Cohen, a member of the Netanyahu security cabinet, said that Israel’s defense force will end on Sunday the orders for the taking of the city of Gaza, Part of approximately 25% of the territory previously avoided during military incursions under the belief that there are hostages retained there.
The plan points to six to eight weeks for the forced evacuation of up to one million Palestinian civilians before the main assault, Cohen said to Channel 14 of television, adding that he would press to accelerate: “This can be done in two or three weeks.”
SHVA, Operator of the National Payment Processing of Israel, reported that, at 12 pm, local time, daily credit card It had decreased only 5.1% compared to the previous week, which suggests a lower impact of business strike. The Israel business forum, a group of 200 of the country’s main business leaders, met with the families of the hostages, but did not formally support the strike.
Hamas, considered a terrorist group in much of the West, wants any truce in Gaza to guarantee the total withdrawal of Israel. He has indicated that he could give part of power, but rejects the Israeli demand to disarm. On Sunday, Hamas denounced the plan of the city of Gaza as “the beginning of a new wave of brutal genocide” by the Israelis.
Israel lost 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the attacks of October 7 and more than 450 soldiers in gaza fighting since then. The longest war in Israel has spread to several fronts, including Iran, and has generated tension in the army.
“Today’s demonstrations show the difference between the Israeli government and its people,” said Noa Tishby, actress, producer and influential figure in social networks about the conflict, born in Los Angeles. “The Israelis are exhausted after more than two years of protests against this government, and even so, today they go out to resist the war in Gaza.”
